Classroom Rookies Look To Veterans For Advice

Mentoring Programs Increase The Odds That A New Teacher Will Stick With The Profession.

December 31, 2001|By Leslie Postal, Sentinel Staff Writer

Lunch is frozen pizza, soda and leftover Christmas party cookies. The conversation is far meatier, touching on the questions -- some practical, some serious and some mundane -- that nag new teachers:

How do you fill out grading sheets?

What should you do with your rowdy second-period class?

Where are the soda machines, not to mention the faculty restrooms?

Once a month, at informal meetings run by two veteran educators, new teachers at Lake Howell High in Seminole County get a chance to ask questions, share frustrations and learn the ins and outs of their school without fear of being judged inadequate, unprepared or just plain silly.

"You can come in here and say, `This thing is happening to me.' You learn it's normal," said Leslie Landrum, a first-year English teacher.

Landrum had plenty of questions for Jean DeWitt and Carol Breneman, the two nationally certified teachers who run Lake Howell's new-teacher program. She taught for a few years at a Mississippi college but was new to K-12 education when she started at Lake Howell in August.

Too often, new teachers across the country feel they have no one to ask -- at least, no one with whom they feel comfortable sharing their ignorance. Isolated, and sometimes overwhelmed, 30 percent of them give up on their profession within five years of entering it.

Southern states, including Florida, lose an even higher percentage of their newly trained teachers, according to the Southern Regional Education Board.

That exodus makes Florida's chronic teacher shortage worse and adds to the hundreds of new teachers Central Florida school districts must hire -- often with a struggle -- each year.

The Lake Howell program, new this school year, is part of an effort by the Seminole Education Association -- the district's teachers union -- to provide first-year teachers with more help and, hopefully, curtail teacher turnover.

The association just won a $5,000 grant from the National Education Association that will allow it to expand its "New Kids to the Block" program next school year, ideally to all new teachers who are interested.

Mentoring, experts say, is a key to reducing the percentage of educators who quickly leave their profession. Such programs have become increasingly popular nationwide. Orange County started its "mentor-protege" program two years ago.

Seminole's program was small this year -- about 40 new teachers working with mentors, either in groups or one-on-one, said Tammy Conklin, the program's director. The association also put on workshops for new teachers. The most recent one was how to deal with students who talk back.

COULDN'T FIND LUNCHROOM

DeWitt, whose specialty is early childhood education, started the Lake Howell program because she knew how hard it is to be new. She joined Lake Howell's staff five years ago. She had 14 years of teaching experience at the time, but being at a new school, particularly on a large, sprawling campus, can be overwhelming.

"I was here a semester before I knew where the teacher lunchroom was," DeWitt said.

DeWitt's program includes a summer tour of the campus and discussions on various issues, from how to fill out discipline referrals ("keep the gold copy") to how to decipher all the educational acronyms. She also sends out periodic e-mails, checking if anyone needs help and reminding them about upcoming events or deadlines.

Graca Lealdini-Dudley, a Spanish teacher, worked four years in a much smaller Massachusetts school before starting at Lake Howell in August. She appreciated DeWitt's tips.

Lealdini-Dudley wasn't sure, for example, how much to count homework in her grading. "How much, according to the school, are things worth? I wasn't sure," she said.

New history teacher Mary Ryczek said it's nice to ask the veterans how to handle a sometimes-difficult student.

"They know what the kid will do even before they do it," she said.

Mentoring can't solve all reasons for job dissatisfaction among teachers -- low pay is a big one. But it helps.

Teachers who participate in such programs are twice as likely to stay in teaching, according to the Southern Regional Education Board, which works to improve preschool-to-university education in the South.

Florida requires mentoring for some teachers, such as those who aren't certified in their subject, but just a small number qualify.

In Seminole, about 450 new teachers were hired for this school year, and about 140 qualified for the state program, said John Reichert, the district's executive director of human resources.

1ST YEAR OFTEN THE TOUGHEST

That means many new teachers in Seminole traditionally haven't received any sort of formal help. The education association's efforts to give new teachers "nonthreatening assistance" should improve skills and the district's retention rates, Reichert said.

"As I look back, probably my most difficult year was my first year in teaching," he said. "You're on your own in that classroom."

Orange County schools started a mentor program in 1999 for that very reason.

Unlike many other professions, teaching doesn't cut its beginners any slack, said Renalia DuBose, Orange's senior director of training and benefits.

"The first day of school, you have a full load," DuBose said. "You have the same job that the 20-year veteran has."

But new teachers, realistically, can't do what a veteran can without help, she said.

EDUCATION THEORY NOT ENOUGH

Rick Rodriguez, another new teacher at Lake Howell, said much of his college education focused on theory rather than the more practical matter of managing a class full of teenagers. An internship at a school was helpful but not enough.

He's found that running a class actually means dealing with a lot of student questions and a lot of interruptions in his planned lessons.

"You're thinking on your feet all the time," said Rodriguez, who teaches geography.